Hosts Germany have been knocked out of the European Baseball Championship ©Baseball-em.de

Italy beat hosts Germany this evening to secure their place in the semi-finals of the European Baseball Championship.

The Italians triumphed 7-5 in the last of the three quarter-final ties held in Bonn.

Awaiting them in the last four are Israel, who defeated France 8-2 earlier.

The other semi-final match pits The Netherlands against Spain.

The Netherlands overcame Belgium 17-2, before Spain claimed a 5-4 win over Czech Republic in Solingen.

Israel are among the four teams through to the semi-finals ©Baseball-em.de
Israel are among the four teams through to the semi-finals ©Baseball-em.de

By reaching the semi-finals, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain have all progressed to the Africa/Europe qualification event for next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo as guaranteed top-five finishers.

Belgium, Czech Republic, France and Germany will battle it out for the one remaining spot over the weekend.

Austria beat Croatia 10-0 and Great Britain defeated Sweden 12-2 in the classification games.

While Sweden's loss condemns them to last place, Britain will face Croatia tomorrow for the right to meet Austria in the ninth-place play-off on Sunday (September 15).

The final and other play-off games are also scheduled for Sunday.